Scores by sport

Clinging to a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter, Riverside Academy did not get too fancy.

With the referees calling a tight game—especially with regards to hand-checking—Riverside put the ball in the hands of All-State point guard Von Julien and let him control the game.

The defenders for East St. John simply could not stop fouling on dribble drives and Riverside took advantage, relying heavily on the charity stripe in the fourth quarter to hold on for a 68-55 victory.

Julien, who finished with 23 points, did the bulk of his scoring in the fourth quarter, and most of his points came at the line.

“Our goal was to force them to foul us,” Julien said. “We just wanted to protect the ball and attack the hole.”

This strategy worked to perfection as Riverside was in the bonus for much of the final quarter. Because of this, every foul sent Julien and co. to the line for free-throws.

A four-point edge at the beginning of the fourth ballooned to a nine-point edge quickly. Between Julien and Curtis Johnson, Riverside shot far more free-throws than field goals in the period.

“I told our kids to pull the ball out and wait for the foul,” Riverside Coach Timmy Byrd said, “and we wanted Von to have the ball in his hands at the end of the game.”

Riverside was recently ranked as the area's top small-school team in the NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune “Starting Five” and have plenty of competition in the Holy Cross tournament. Out of the Large-Schools Starting Five, the top three teams are represented at this tournament: East Jefferson, Landry-Walker and East St. John.

One down, two to go for Coach Byrd’s squad.

“Landry-Walker is real hot right now, but East Jefferson has that size,” he said. “They play that zone which makes it tough to score points on them.

Riverside faces Independence in the second round on Friday afternoon and, with a victory, could face Landry-Walker in the semi-finals that same night.